Aubrey-Maturin series

The Aubrey–Maturin series, also known as the Aubreyad, is a sequence of 20 historical novels by Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic Wars and centering on the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and his ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, who is also a physician, naturalist, and secret agent. The 21st novel of the series, left unfinished by O'Brian's death in 2000, was published in late 2004.

Details of the individual books

Master and Commander

Master and Commander begins on April 18, 1800 in Port Mahon, Minorca, at that time a base of the Royal Navy. Jack Aubrey is a Lieutenant languishing in port without a ship, Stephen Maturin is a penniless half-Irish, half-Catalan physician and natural philosopher. The two main characters are first set at odds by and then united by a love of music (Aubrey plays the violin, Maturin the cello).

Related Topics:
April 18 - 1800 - Mahon - Minorca - Lieutenant - Irish - Catalan - Physician - Natural philosopher - Violin - Cello

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The novel introduces these two characters and gives Jack his first command (and promotion to the rank of Commander) on a tiny sloop-of-war, HMS Sophie. Stephen accepts a position as Sophie's surgeon, although as a physician he is overqualified for the job.

Related Topics:
Commander - Sloop-of-war - HMS - Surgeon

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We are introduced to Master's Mates Thomas Pullings and William Mowett and midshipman William Babbington, who become long-term fixtures in the series, and James Dillon, Sophie's first lieutenant, whose secret background of Irish Republicanism intersects Stephen's own.

Related Topics:
Midshipman - Irish Republicanism

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The capture of the Spanish xebec-frigate Cacafuego by the greatly inferior Sophie brings Aubrey and his crew great glory and wealth. This episode is based on the capture of the Spanish frigate El Gamo by Thomas Cochrane commanding the sloop Speedy http://www.maritime-scotland.com/gamo.html.

Related Topics:
Spanish - Frigate - Thomas Cochrane

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The exploit of setting up a decoy of a large ship at night by attaching lights to a small boat was executed by the French privateer Robert Surcouf to successfully escape the British frigate HMS Sybille. It was also used by Cochrane and described in his Autobiography of a Seaman (used by O'Brian as source material for this novel).

Related Topics:
Privateer - Robert Surcouf

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Editions

• W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint Paperback edition (1990) (ISBN 0393307050)
• W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint Paperback edition (1994) (ISBN 0393037010)
• Thorndike Press; Large-print Hardcover edition (1999) (ISBN 0786219327)
• Books on Tape; Unabridged audio edition (2000) (ISBN 0736657134)
• Harper Collins; Reprint Paperback edition (2002) (ISBN 0006499155)
• W. W. Norton & Company; Movie Tie-In Paperback Edition (2003) (ISBN 0393325172)
• Firebird Distributing; (ISBN 0001053299)

Post Captain

The book begins in 1802 with the conclusion of the French Revolutionary Wars and the Peace of Amiens. Commander Jack Aubrey returns to England to take up the life of a country squire, where he meets the Williams family, and their cousin Diana Villiers. Aubrey courts Sophia Williams (the eldest daughter) but is also attracted to Diana, with whom he commences an affair.

Related Topics:
French Revolutionary Wars - Peace of Amiens - Commander

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Aubrey plans to marry Sophia Williams, but his fortune is embezzled by his prize-agent and he flees the country to avoid his creditors, living with Maturin in France. He is restored to active service by the outbreak of war in 1803, and following his endeavours as commander of the unusual HMS Polychrest he is promoted to Post Captain, and given temporary command of HMS Lively while Captain Hammond was on leave.

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The book ends with a fictionalized account of the capture of a Spanish treasure fleet by four British frigates in 1804; see HMS Indefatigable for an account of the incident. Other fictionalized accounts of this same incident occur in other historical novels of the period, including Hornblower and the Hotspur by C. S. Forester, and the novels of Alexander Kent. In actual history, Captain Hammond was the captain of the Lively at the time of this incident.

Related Topics:
Spanish treasure fleet - HMS ''Indefatigable'' - Hornblower and the Hotspur - C. S. Forester - Alexander Kent

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Editions

• W. W. Norton & Company; Trade Paperback Reprint edition (1990) (ISBN 0393307069)
• W. W. Norton & Company; Hardcover Uniform edition (1994) (ISBN 0393037029)
• Thorndike Press; Large-print Hardcover edition (2000) (ISBN 0754014231)
• Chivers; Large-print Paperback edition (2000) (ISBN 0754023206)
• Blackstone Audiobooks; Unabridged CD edition (2004) (ISBN 0786186283)
• Firebird Distributing; (ISBN 0001053302)
• Fontana; Paperback edition (1974) (ISBN 0006136664)

HMS Surprise

Aubrey is given command of the frigate HMS Surprise, and charged with carrying a British ambassador to the East Indies. Much of the novel deals with the ups and downs of Maturin's relationship with Diana Villiers. Jack's romance with Sophie Williams also progresses.

Related Topics:
British - East Indies

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This book is also Aubrey's first stint in command of, and the readers' first encounter with, the Surprise herself. She becomes his favorite ship, and appears in many other novels in the series.

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On the return voyage the Surprise encounters a fleet of the East India Company, returning from China laden with goods. The fleet comes under attack from a French squadron but Aubrey organizes a spirited defence from the merchant ships and bluffs the French into retreating. This episode is based on the Action of 15 February 1804, in which 16 merchant ships of the East India Company under the command of Commodore Nathaniel Dance, drove off a French squadron consisting of the Marengo (74 guns), Belle-Poule (40), Sémillante (36), Berceau (22) and Aventurier (16), commanded by Rear-Admiral Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois. Another fictional account of this incident appears in Newton Forster; or, the Merchant Service by Captain Frederick Marryat.

Related Topics:
East India Company - Action of 15 February 1804 - Nathaniel Dance - ''Marengo'' - 74 guns - ''Belle-Poule'' - Charles-Alexandre Léon Durand Linois - Frederick Marryat

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Editions

• W. W. Norton & Company; 1st American edition; Paperback (1991) (ISBN 0393307611)
• W. W. Norton & Company; Hardcover Reprint edition (1994) (ISBN 0393037037)
• Thorndike Press; Largeprint hardcover edition (2000) (ISBN 0786219343)
• Harper Collins; reprint paperback edition (2002) (ISBN 0006499171)
• Blackstone Audiobooks; Unabridged Audio CD edition (2004) (ISBN 078618597X)
• Fontana; Paperback edition (1976) (ISBN 0006141811)

The Mauritius Command

The novel sees Aubrey made Commodore in charge of a squadron of ships sent to take the islands of Mauritius and Réunion from the French, and so protect British shipping interests in the Indian Ocean.

Related Topics:
Commodore - Mauritius - Réunion - French - British - Indian Ocean

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The novel gives further scope to Maturin's role as both a secret agent (in which he uses propaganda effectively to support the campaign) and as a naturalist (in which he is seen collecting relics of the extinct birds the Dodo and the Solitaire).

Related Topics:
Propaganda - Dodo - Solitaire

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The novel is based upon a real campaign carried out by the Royal Navy in 1810 under Commodore Josias Rowley. The island was formally captured on 3 December 1810 (See also History of Mauritius.)

Related Topics:
Josias Rowley - 3 December - 1810 - History of Mauritius

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Editions

• Collins Publishers; Hardcover edition (1977) (ISBN 000222383X)
• Stein & Day; Hardcover edition (1978) (ISBN 0812824768)
• W. W. Norton & Company; Paperback Reprint edition (1991) (ISBN 039330762X)
• William A. Thomas Braille Bookstore Hardcover edition (1992) (ISBN 1569560714)
• W. W. Norton & Company; Hardcover Reprint edition (1994) (ISBN 0393037045)
• Chivers; Hardcover Large-print edition (2000) (ISBN 075401519X)
• Chivers; Paperback Large-print edition (2000) (ISBN 0754023982)
• Harper Collins Publishers Ltd; Paperback edition (2002) (ISBN 000649918X)
• Blackstone Audiobooks; MP3 CD Unabridged audio edition (2004) (ISBN 0786185627)
• Fontana; Paperback edition (1978) (ISBN 0006165745)

Desolation Island

Captain Aubrey, at home in England, is haplessly squandering his newly acquired wealth when he is given the 50 gun fourth-rate HMS Leopard, a notoriously unlucky ship. Aubrey is ordered to Australia to deal with the Rum Rebellion against the administration of William Bligh. On board are a number of prisoners bound for the colonies, and Dr. Maturin is assigned to extract information from one, a beautiful American spy named Louisa Wogan. Maturin works to deceive Ms. Wogan with a scheme to compromise the American and French spy networks. En route to Australia, the Leopard is becalmed and devastated by a plague, engaged in a chilling life-or-death chase by the Dutch 74 gun Waakzaamheid, gravely wounded by an Antarctic iceberg, and stranded on Desolation Island, a frigid, uninhabited archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean (presumably the Kerguelen Islands).

Related Topics:
Fourth-rate - HMS ''Leopard'' - Australia - Rum Rebellion - William Bligh - 74 gun - Antarctic - Iceberg - Archipelago - Indian Ocean - Kerguelen Islands

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The real-life Leopard's earlier involvement in the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair is mentioned, and the book deals with the tension between the English and Americans on the eve of the War of 1812. The near sinking of the Leopard after striking an iceberg is based on an actual event involving the HMS Guardian in 1789.

Related Topics:
Chesapeake-Leopard Affair - War of 1812 - HMS ''Guardian'' - 1789

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Editions

• Stein & Day; Hardcover edition (1979) (ISBN: 081282590X)
• Day Books; 1st Mass-market Paperback edition (1981) (ISBN 0812870662)
• W. W. Norton & Company; Paperback Reprint edition (1991) (ISBN 039330812X)
• W. W. Norton & Company; Hardcover Reprint edition (1994) (ISBN 0393037053)
• Thorndike Press; Hardcover Large-print edition (2001) (ISBN 0786219262)
• Blackstone Audiobooks; Unabridged Audio CD edition (2004) (ISBN 0786183993)
• Fontana; Paperback edition (1979) (ISBN: 0006166032)

The Fortune of War

Set during the War of 1812, this novel contains lightly fictionalized accounts of the battles between HMS Java and USS Constitution, and between HMS Shannon and USS Chesapeake.

Related Topics:
War of 1812 - HMS ''Java'' - USS ''Constitution'' - HMS ''Shannon'' - USS ''Chesapeake''

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Aubrey is captured by the Americans, who are particularly suspicious of him as a former commander of HMS Leopard, due to the Chesapeake-Leopard Affair.

Related Topics:
HMS ''Leopard'' - Chesapeake-Leopard Affair

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This book extensively explores Maturin's character while he and Aubrey are held captive in Boston, as he is able to manifest his various roles; doctor, spy, and tormented lover. It continues the account of Maturin's pursuit of Diana Villiers, with whom he is still deeply in love.

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Critical readers have said that the degree of freedom the French agents have would have been most improbable in Federalist Boston, where the French were not well-liked by the local authorities; nor was Aubrey likely to be as loosely guarded is he is in the novel.

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Editions

• W. W. Norton & Company; Paperback reprint edition (1991) (ISBN 0393308138)
• William A. Thomas Braille Bookstore; Hardcover edition (1992)
• Books on Tape; Audio edition (1992) (ISBN 5555358717) (ISBN: 1569564183)
• W. W. Norton & Company; Hardcover edition (1994) (ISBN 0393037061)
• Thorndike Press; Hardcover Large-print edition (2001) (ISBN: 0754015882)
• Thorndike Press; Paperback Large-print edition (2001) (ISBN 0754024490)
• Fontana; Paperback edition (1980) (ISBN 0006159931)

The Surgeon's Mate

The story starts in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Aubrey and Maturin, having escaped from the Americans in Boston on HMS Shannon, start their return journey to England aboard a packet ship. The packet ship is doggedly pursued by two American privateer schooners across the Grand Banks.

Related Topics:
Halifax - Nova Scotia - HMS ''Shannon'' - Schooner - Grand Banks

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Maturin is sent on a mission to the Baltic to persuade the Catalan garrison of the fortress at Grimsholm to defect. It seems likely that this episode is based on similar events in 1808. In 1807, the Spanish government, at that time allied with France, had sent 15,000 troops to Denmark to act as a garrison against a possible British landing there. These troops, among the best in Spain, were posted in small detachments on offshore islands and kept in the dark about political developments in Spain following Napoleon's invasion and occupation of Spain in 1807 (see Peninsular War). The Duke of Wellington dispatched the Scottish Benedictine monk James Robertson (on the advice of his brother Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley). Robertson had been brought up at the Benedictine abbey at Regensburg in Germany, and so was able to pass through occupied Germany under the guise of "Adam Rohrauer", a dealer in cigars and chocolate. Robertson made contact with the Spanish general, the Marquis de la Romana, on the island of Funen, where the two agreed that the Spanish troops would defect and be returned to Spain on British ships. Robertson escaped to Heligoland (then a British possession) to inform Admiral Richard Goodwin Keats of the agreement, and a fleet of transports escorted by HMS Superb embarked 9,000 Spanish soldiers.

Related Topics:
Peninsular War - Duke of Wellington - Benedictine - Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquess Wellesley - Regensburg - Funen - Heligoland - Richard Goodwin Keats - HMS ''Superb''

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The title of the novel a play on words, referring not just to Maturin's assistant but also to his long-time love interest and future wife, Diana Villiers.

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The Ionian Mission

Aubrey is given the command of a 74-gun ship of the line and has to endure blockade duty off Toulon under the command of Lord Collingwood. However, he is reassigned to detached duty aboard his beloved Surprise and sails to the Adriatic to deal with French attempts to take over parts of the Ottoman empire.

Related Topics:
74-gun - Ship of the line - Blockade - Toulon - Lord Collingwood - Adriatic - Ottoman empire

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Treason's Harbour

While HMS Surprise is being refitted in Malta, Aubrey and his crew are assigned to a mission in the Red Sea. Using Maturin's diving bell they attempt to retrieve French gold but their plan had been betrayed. More treachery occurs as French spies try to thwart the British plans and cause trouble for Aubrey and Maturin at home.

Related Topics:
Malta - Red Sea - Diving bell

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The Far Side of the World

The Far Side of the World is set during the War of 1812. In this novel Captain Jack Aubrey takes the frigate HMS Surprise around Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean in pursuit of the American frigate USS Norfolk and in defense of British whalers in the South Seas. The exploits of the Norfolk are based on those of the USS Essex.

Related Topics:
War of 1812 - USS ''Essex''

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Film

The novel provided much of the overall plot structure for the 2003 Peter Weir film, ', though the USS Norfolk was changed to the French privateer Acheron, and episodes were also taken from other books in the series, including Master and Commander and HMS Surprise. The Acheron was based upon the USS Constitution.

Related Topics:
Peter Weir - Master and Commander - HMS Surprise - USS ''Constitution''

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Editions

• Collins (1984)
• W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint Paperback edition (1992) (ISBN 0393308626)
• Books on Tape; Audio edition (1993) (ISBN 5555768079)
• W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint Hardcover edition (1994) (ISBN 039303710X)
• Thorndike Press; Large-print Hardcover edition (2002) (ISBN 0754017834)
• Thorndike Press; Large-print Paperback edition (2002) (ISBN 0754091759)
• W. W. Norton & Company; Reissue (movie tie-in) Paperback edition (2003) (ISBN 0393324761)
• Soundings Ltd; Audio CD Edition (2003) (ISBN 1842832689)

The Reverse of the Medal

Newly returned to England, Aubrey hears a rumor from a stranger he meets in an inn that a peace with France will soon be signed. The stranger, who seems to be a secret diplomatic agent, indicates to Aubrey how he can make money on the stock exchange by buying stocks sure to go up as soon as the news becomes public. The stranger says that such advance knowledge is provided as a reward to deserving officers such as Aubrey. Aubrey makes the transactions as he has been advised, and is observed by his father, General Aubrey, who learns the secret, and makes much larger stock transactions. The rumor of a peace treaty gets out, and the stock transactions are highly profitable.

Related Topics:
France - Stock exchange

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Then it is revealed that the rumor is a false one, and the stranger an impersonator (it is revealed in later novels in the series that he was directed by a highly placed English agent in the service of French intelligence). Aubrey is tried for a fraud on the stock market. Maturin hires an investigator, but is unable to secure enough proof of the truth of Aubrey's story to win an acquittal. Aubrey is convicted, dismissed from the Royal Navy, and sentenced to stand in the pillory.

Related Topics:
Fraud - Pillory

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The story and many of the details of the trial are based on the Guildhall trial of Lord Cochrane.

Related Topics:
Guildhall - Lord Cochrane

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The Letter of Marque

Maturin purchases the Surprise and Aubrey is granted a letter of marque. Aubrey prepares the Surprise to sail as a privateer, finding many things quite different than in the Navy. He is bitter and low-spirited about his dismissal for much of the book.

Related Topics:
Letter of marque - Privateer

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(Note: the "letter of marque" of the title probably refers to the Surprise herself, rather than the document.)

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Editions

• Fontana; Paperback Edition (1989) (ISBN 0006177042)

The Thirteen-Gun Salute

This novel tells the story of a venture to the fictitious land of Kampong in the East Indies, where an ambitious King's emissary attempts to win over the local king with a treaty, while the French attempt the same.

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The same English traitors who were responsible for Aubrey's disgrace are now openly assisting the French, and Stephen engages in a political duel for influence at the court of Kampong.

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The Nutmeg of Consolation

The book opens with Aubrey and his crew shipwrecked on a remote island in the South China Sea after surviving the destruction of HMS Diane in a typhoon. While stranded on the island they fight a ferocious battle against Dayak pirates and are eventually rescued by Chinese traders.

Related Topics:
South China Sea - Dayak - Chinese

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Upon arriving in Batavia, Aubrey is provided by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles with a 20-gun ship which Aubrey renames Nutmeg of Consolation in reference to a Malay poem. Back at sea, Aubrey and the out-gunned Nutmeg engage in battle with a French frigate; at the height of the battle the Nutmeg is joined by Surprise (no longer in commission at this point, but sold out of the service as a letter of marque and sailing as a Hired Vessel of the Royal Navy) under the temporary command of Aubrey's old friend and former lieutenant, Commander Thomas Pullings.

Related Topics:
Batavia - Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles - Letter of marque

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Resuming command of the Surprise, Aubrey and Maturin continue their interrupted journey to New South Wales. On their way to Australia, Maturin rescues two young girls who are the sole survivors of an outbreak of smallpox that has killed the entire population of their small Pacific island.

Related Topics:
New South Wales - Australia - Smallpox - Pacific

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Once in New South Wales the book contains graphic descriptions of the hell-on-earth that was the life in the penal colony under Governor Lachlan Macquarie shortly after the "Rum Rebellion" of the New South Wales Corps and its coup against Governor William Bligh. There are also detailed descriptions of the landscapes and fauna in and around Sydney harbour; Stephen Maturin has an interesting encounter with a male Platypus in the final pages of the book.

Related Topics:
Governor - Lachlan Macquarie - Rum Rebellion - New South Wales Corps - Coup - William Bligh - Sydney - Platypus

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Clarissa Oakes

A young female convict, Clarissa Harvill, is smuggled aboard HMS Surprise in Sydney by midshipman Oakes, to whom she is subsequently married by Aubrey. Her presence and activities cause much dissension aboard and upset the smooth running of the ship. Despite this Aubrey successfully adds a Polynesian island to the British crown and chases away an American privateer.

Related Topics:
Sydney - Midshipman - Polynesia - American

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Mrs. Oakes proves to have knowledge which is helpful to Stephen Maturin in his role as a counter-intelligence agent.

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Clarissa Oakes was published in the US as The Truelove, which is the name of a ship in the novel, but may also refer to the woman.

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The Wine-Dark Sea

The book opens with the pursuit of an American privateer (the Franklin) in the south Pacific, and a volcanic eruption which damages the Surprise and disables the Franklin. The Franklin is taken, and Dutourd, a Frenchman, is found to be the owner. He plans to conquer a south Pacific island and establish a paradise of equality, justice, and little labor.

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Maturin recognizes Dutourd from earlier days in Paris, and takes pains to hide his identity from the Frenchman. Aubrey, meanwhile, finds that not only does Dutourd not know the basic courtesies of life at sea, but does not have a letter of marque permitting him to operate the Franklin as a privateer. The Franklin had taken several British ships as prizes and Doutard's legal status is that of a pirate, liable to be hanged.

Related Topics:
Letter of marque - Pirate

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Dutourd proves to be problematic, both for Maturin and for Aubrey. Maturin needs to maintain his identity as a simple ship's surgeon and naturalist, keeping his secrecy as a secret agent for the British, particularly since the current voyage of the Surprise is intended to deliver Maturin to Peru where he is to incite a revolution against the Spanish colonial government.

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An unnamed American whaler is taken by the Surprise and the Franklin, and a British sailor on the whaler tells Aubrey of a French ship ? the Alastor ? turned a true pirate, unlike the Franklin, flying the black flag and demanding immediate surrender or death of its victims. The Franklin encounters the Alastor first, is outmatched, but the Surprise overcomes the pirates, with Aubrey being wounded.

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Attention now turns in the book to Maturin's secret mission to Peru. He is put ashore and makes valuable contact among local military and government officials sympathetic to Peruvian independence, aided by Aubrey's illegitimate son Sam Panda, a prominent official in the Catholic Church.

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Maturin's plans go sour. Dutourd escapes from the Surprise, aided by sympathetic crewmen; he denounces Maturin on the eve of a revolution as an Englishman spreading English gold, and Maturin flees over the Andes mountains from Peru.

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Aubrey, meanwhile, sails in a small boat with few crewmen to San Lorenzo in an attempt to warn Maturin of Dutourd's escape; after many days of hard sailing in daunting weather conditions against the wind, they are rescued by the Surprise, at which point Maturin has already fled.

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Aubrey eventually picks Maturin up in Chile and takes the Surprise through a difficult passage around Cape Horn, dodging a superior squadron of American ships.

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The title comes from the English version of a line by Homer.

Related Topics:
English - Homer

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The Commodore

This book sees the return of Aubrey and Maturin to England, where the latter finds that his young daughter Brigid refuses to speak and may be autistic, and that his wife Diana has fled the situation, leaving Brigid in the care of the now-widowed Clarissa Oakes. The title refers to Aubrey's appointment to command of a squadron, the second time he has held the honorific of Commodore. Once the squadron is formed, Aubrey and Maturin are very publicly charged with disrupting the African slave trade, now illegal, but the true mission of the squadron is to intercept a French invasion force which expects a sympathetic welcome in Maturin's native Ireland.

Related Topics:
Autistic - African slave trade

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The Yellow Admiral

The title concerns Aubrey's fear of being made a "yellow admiral", a rear-admiral who is assigned to no squadron, and who is effectively retired on promotion. But the book ends before Aubrey knows whether he will successfully avoid this fate.

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In the Royal Navy of this period, Admirals on active duty were assiged either the Blue, Red, or White squadrons (in order of seniority). The Blue Ensign, Red Ensign, or White Ensign indicated an admiral's rank and squadron assignment, and they were formally refered to as "Rear Admiral of the Red" or "Vice Admiral of the White". These three "squadrons" existed for administrative purposes, and should not be confused with physical squadrons, that is a group of ships commanded as a unit, but smaller than a fleet.

Related Topics:
Admiral - Blue Ensign - Red Ensign - White Ensign - Squadron - Fleet

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The Hundred Days

The title refers to the Hundred Days, a period when Napoleon Bonaparte escaped from Elba and temporarily returned to power in France.

Related Topics:
Hundred Days - Napoleon Bonaparte - Elba - France

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Blue at the Mizzen

This novel was the last completed work in the series.

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A blue ensign at the mizzen-mast was the flag of the Rear Admiral of the Blue, the lowest flag rank in the Royal Navy of the early 19th century.

Related Topics:
Blue ensign - Mizzen-mast - Rear Admiral of the Blue

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Editions

• W.W. Norton & Company; Paperback Reprint edition (1999) (ISBN 0393048446)

The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey

The Final Unfinished Voyage of Jack Aubrey is the unfinished twenty-first novel in the series. It was released in the fall of 2004. It comprises the partially corrected typescript of the approximately three chapters completed by O'Brian before his death in January, 2000, as well as a facsimile of the handwritten manuscript which continues beyond the end of the typescript. It is obvious that there would have to have been a lot more polishing and editing of the text to bring it to O'Brian's usual standards. There is a foreword by William Waldegrave and an afterword by Richard Snow, who had written an influential review of the series in the New York Times Book Review many years before. Snow's review has been credited with helping to popularize the series in the United States.

Related Topics:
William Waldegrave - Richard Snow - New York Times Book Review - United States

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In the US, this book was released under the simpler title of 21.

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Editions

• HarperCollins; Hardback (2004) (ISBN 0007194692)